Time's Person Of The Year: The 'Me Too' Movement

Women and men who have spoken out against sexual assault and harassment are Time Magzine's 2017 Person of the Year. The magazine is recognizing members of the "Me Too" movement, dubbing them "The Silence Breakers."

On Dec. 6, Time announced the Me Too movement as its annual Person of the Year. The publication unveiled the cover for its December edition, which featured activist Tarana Burke, actress Ashley Judd, musician Taylor Swift, Uber engineer Susan Fowler and Isabel Pascual, a strawberry-picker from Mexico.

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"The galvanizing actions of the women on our cover ... along with those of hundreds of others, and of many men as well, have unleashed one of the highest-velocity shifts in our culture since the 1960s," said Edward Felsenthal, Time's editor-in-chief, in a statement, according to Today.

The magazine feature includes interviews with dozens of men and women who have accused high-profile figures of assault and harassment. The interviewees range from prominent public figures such as actress Rose McGowan to anonymous women. Men such as actor Terry Crews are also featured.

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"This reckoning appears to have sprung up overnight," the feature's authors wrote of the wave of sexual assault accusations that ignited following the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. "But it has actually been simmering for years, decades, centuries ... These silence breakers have started a revolution of refusal, gathering strength by the day, and in the past two months alone, their collective anger has spurred immediate and shocking results: nearly every day, CEOs have been fired, moguls toppled, icons disgraced."

Burke coined "Me Too" in 2006. The phrase surged across social media following the Weinstein allegations.

"I've been saying from the beginning, it's not just a moment, it's a movement," Burke told Today. "Now the work really begins. The hashtag is a declaration, but now we're poised to really stand up and do the work."

The Me Too movement prevailed over a shortlist of nine other contenders for the magazine's annual feature.

The other candidates were U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, undocumented immigrants who were brought into the U.S. as children, special counsel Robert Mueller and film director Patty Jenkins.

Time national correspondent Charlotte Alter took to social media to disclose that the magazine's 2017 Person of the Year feature was primarily conducted by women.

"This was conceived, reported and written by women," Alter tweeted out on Dec. 6. "It was fact-checked by women. The video was shot and edited by women. The layout and photo spread were designed by women. It's one of the reasons I'm proud to work at [Time]."

The magazine has announced a Person of the Year since 1927. The designation is meant to recognize people who had most influenced the year, for good or ill. Throughout the magazine feature's 89 years in existence, 66 of its winners have been men by themselves, while only four have been women by themselves, according to The Washington Post.